Just over half of Australian adults (54 per cent) felt that they could trust 'most people', according to a new report on social wellbeing from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
People were most likely to trust their doctor (89 per cent) and local police (76 per cent). Older people (75+) were even more likely to trust their doctor (95 per cent).
Most people felt that they had a network of people to contact if they needed advice or information, with 72 per cent saying they knew someone in an organisation that they felt comfortable contacting.
Nearly all people (96 per cent) had at least weekly contact with family or friends that they didn't live with. People's friends were generally a similar age (66 per cent), similar education (57 per cent), and similar ethnic background (73 per cent).
Most people (93 per cent) felt that in a time of crisis they could get support from people living outside their household, including family (80 per cent) and friends (67 per cent).
Some other findings from the General Social Survey include:
- The most common stressful situations people found themselves in were serious illness (23 per cent), death of family member or close friend (21 per cent), unemployment (13 per cent), divorce or separation (11 per cent), mental illness (11 per cent) and alcohol/drug related problems (9 per cent).
- More women (62 per cent) experienced stressful situations than men (57 per cent).
- Five million people did voluntary work during 2006, with women (36 per cent) volunteering more often than men (32 per cent). People aged 35-44 had the highest rate of volunteering (43 per cent).
- Between 2002 and 2006, computer use increased from 55 per cent to 69 per cent, and internet use at home went from 43 per cent to 60 per cent. While men were still more likely to use computers and access the internet, the increases were greater for women.
Other topics covered include crime and safety, transport, financial stress, housing, and culture and leisure, and can be found in General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2006 (cat. no. 4159.0).
